Zipper pull and guard device



Oct. 31, 1961 M. E. MAEDER 3,006,051

ZIPPER PULL AND GUARD DEVICE Filed Sept. 2a, 1958 20 IO 29 2s a] a eells 24 152 1 j 22 L\\ IIIHIHIIHIIHIII m H '1 Am 25 I l3 6 93 27 INVENTOR.

" a; E. MHEDER A-kforne 3,006,051 ZEPER PULL AND GUARD DEVICE Maurice E. Maeder, Moorestown, NJ. (Bridgeboro Road, Camden, N..I.), assignor of one-third to William Lesse, Elltins Park, Pa., and one-third to Michael L.

Brown, Philadelphia, Pa.

Filed Sept. 23, 1958, Ser. No. 762,800 Claims. (Ul. 24-20515) This invention relates generally to means for facilitating the closing and opening of hookless fasteners, otherwise known as Zipper or slide fasteners, conventionally used on clothing and more particularly to an improved construction of pull device which is adapted to be quickdetachably connected to the zipper tab to enable the fastener to be easily and conveniently zipped and unzipped.

In the use of zipper fasteners on clothing, particularly on Womens wearing apparel, it very frequently occurs that upon actuation of the zipper fastener to close the same, the interengaging teeth of the opposed stringers of the zipper become enmeshed in the fabric of the material which underlies the zipper. In certain cases this material may be part of the garment which includes the zipper fastener, while in other cases it may be that of an inner garment, such as a slip worn beneath an outer dress. Once the teeth of the Zipper become so enmeshed in the underlying fabric, it is diflicult, if not impossible, to further move the zipper slide in either direction, often necessitating cutting the fabric into which .the zipper has become enmeshed in order to free the zipper therefrom, thus ruining or seriously damaging the garment. It also occurs all too frequently that in closing the zipper of a garment worn close to the skin, particularly in tightfitting garments, that the teeth of the zipper pinch the skin of the wearer of the garment.

Having in mind the foregoing annoying and exasperating experiences in connection with the use of zipper fasteners, it is among the principal objects of the present invention to provide a pull device for the zipper fastener slide which effectually precludes the possibility of the interengaging teeth of the zipper becoming enmeshed in any entangling material underlying the zipper stringers or pinching the skin of the wearer of the garment with which the zipper fastener is fitted.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a quick-detachable pull device for a zip per fastener having means integral therewith and operative automatically upon pulling the zipper fastener slide into closed condition to maintain the teeth of the zipper stringers which are about to be closed entirely free of and out of contact with the wearers body or with any material underlying the zipper stringers which may be come entangled in the zipper or enmeshed with the teeth thereof and so prevent free and easy closing of the zipper fastener.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an exceedingly simple, practical and inexpensive pull device for actuating hookless (zipper) fasteners and which prevents foreign material from becoming enmeshed in the teeth theerof during the operation of closing the fastener.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent more fully hereinafter, it being understood that the present invention consists in the combination, construction, location and relative arrangement of parts as described in detail in the following specification, as shown in the accompanying drawings and as finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings which are illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the present invention:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating use of the atent Q Patented Oct. 31, 1961 device of the present invention attached to the pull tab of the fastener slide for closing a hookless (zipper) fastener;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view illustrating use of th pull device for unzip-ping the fastener;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the fastener pull device per se; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view through the pull device and a fastener to which it is attached.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURES 3 and 4 thereof, it will be observed that the zipper pull device of the present invention, designated generally by the reference numeral 10, essentially comprises a main body member 11 formed of flat metal or other suitably stiff material and bent, as at 12 and 13, to provide a pair of oppositely extending outer and inner parts 14 and 15 which are relatively offset by an interconnecting intermediate bridging part 16. Preferably, but not necessarily, the parts 14 and 15 of the main body member of the device are respectively disposed in substantially parallel planes. However, such parallel relationship of the parts 14 and 15 is not essential and in certain instances it may be desirable to angularly relate the same by providing an included angle of somewhat more than 90 degrees between the outwardly offsetpart 14 and the central bridging part 16.

Pivotally mounted upon the outwardly offset part 14 of the member 11 is a spring-pressed clip element 17, the front end portion of which is provided with a hook 18 adapted for registry with an opening 19 formed in the part 14. The oppositely extending rear end portion 20 of the clip element 17 overlies the corresponding end portion of the part 14 and cooperates with the latter to provide a pair of finger grips for actuating the springpressed clip element.

The clip element may be pivotally mounted upon the part 14 in any suitable manner, as by providing the clip element .With a pair ,of laterally spaced aperture ears 2121 and part 14 with a corresponding pair or similarly apertured ears 22-22 and pivotally connecting the eared parts together by a pin 23 extending through the registering apertures of the interfitted ears. A torsion spring 24 embracing the pivot pin with its free ends respectively engaging the opposed faces of the finger grip portions of the parts 14 and 17 normally biases the hooked end of the clip element 17 toward the part 14 in registry with the opening 19.

The inwardly offset part 15 of the main body member 11 is provided with a forwardly extending spade-shaped portion 2 5 of a width and length approximating the width and length of a slider element, such as 26, which operates to engage and disengage the teeth of the zipper stringers 2727 of a hook-less fastener. The bridging part 16 of the pull device not only is of a depth just sufiicient to permit disposition of the spade-shaped portion 25 freely beneath the zipper slider element 26 when the pull device is attached to the pull tab 28 of the slider element for closing the Zipper, but also is of a width substantially less than that of the zipper slider element so as not to impede or otherwise interfere with the free movement of the latter in zipper-closing direction. Actually, when the zipper pull device of the present invention is operatively attached to the pull tab 28 of the zipper slider element 26 with the spade-shaped portion 25 thereof underlying the slider element, as shown in FIGURES l and 4, the bridging part 16 of the pull device is spaced somewhat in advance of the flared forward end of the slider element and bridges the gap between the opposed zipper stringers as the same diverge from said forward end of the slider element. In this connection, it is important to note that the opposite side edges of the bridging part 16 are respectively spaced from the opposed rows of the zipper teeth and so never is in direct contact with the latter.

In use of the zipper pull device of the present invention, it is detachably secured to the pull tab 28 of the zipper slider element 26, as best shown in FIGURE 5. This quick-detachable securement is readily effected by engaging the hooked end of the spring-pressed clip element 17 into the opening 29 which is conventionally provided in the zipper pull tab and when the pull tab is so engaged it is secured flatwise against the outer flat surface of the base part 14 of the spring-pressed dip. The pull device 10 thus becomes in effect an extension of the zipper pull tab and is freely swingable with the latter about its pivot 30. To facilitate pulling the device 10 in either zipper-closing or zipper-opening direction, it is preferably provided with a pull cord 31 suitably secured to the free end of the part 14 thereof, for which purpose the latter part may be apertured, as at 32. The pull cord may be of any convenient length, preferably such as to enable a person to zip up and unzip a fastener extending upon the back of a garment worn by such person.

FIGURES 1 and 4 illustrate the relative position assumed by the pull device 10 of the present invention during the operation of closing a zipper fastener. Thus, it will be noted that as the zipper slider element is pulled by the device 10 in zipper-closing direction, as indicated by the arrows the bridging part 16 thereof moves in advance of the slider element 26 to prevent any fabric or material adjacent the zipper teeth about to be interengaged from becoming enmeshed in said teeth. At the same time, the spade-shaped part 25 which underlies the slider element acts to push any underlying fabric such as the material 33 of an underlying garment (see FIGURE 4) away from the slider element, thereby preventing snagging the same in the zipper teeth as they are brought into engagement by the slider element. Since the spade-shaped part 25 of the pull device It constantly underlies the zipper slider element as the latter is pulled in zipper-closing direction, it serves also as an effective means to prevent any possibility of the zipper teeth pinching the skin of the wearer of a close fitting garment, such as a zipperfitted bathing suit.

To open the zipper by means of the pull device 10 attached to the pull tab 28 of the zipper slider element, it is only necessary to swing it about the pivot 30 of the pull tab and then pull it in zipper-opening direction, as indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 2. "It will be observed that in this zipper opening operation, the spade-shaped part 25 of the pull device is disposed outside of the zipper stringers and so offers no interference to the opening movement of the zipper slider element.

It will be understood, of course, that the present invention is susceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made from time to time without departing from the general principles of the invention, and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In a pull device for the slider element of a zipper type fastener having opposed stringers of interengageable teeth, a main member and an auxiliary member pivotally connected thereto conj'ointly comprising clip means adapted for detachable engagement with the pull tab of the zipper slider element, said main member having a first part and a second part integrally formed with said first part, said main member first and second parts being relatively offset so that they are disposed respectively outside and inside of the zipper fastener during closing thereof with the second part directly underlying the slider element, said main member first part operating as a pull extension for the slider element and said main member second part operating as an interceptor for said slider element during movement of the slider element in zipperclosing direction.

2. In a zipper pull device as defined in claim 1 wherein said integrally relatively formed, offset first and second parts of said main member are connected together by a bridging part extending transversely across the plane of the opposed zipper stringers slightly in advance of the forward end of the slider element whereby when the latter is moved in zipper-closing direction said bridging part serves to intercept and prevent enmeshing of zippersnagging material between the teeth of the zipper about to be engaged.

3. In a zipper pull device as defined in claim 1 wherein said second part of said main member which underlies the slider element during movement of the latter to close the fastener is disposed in spaced, substantially parallel relation to the inner side of said slider element and is of spade-shaped form.

4. In a pull device for the slider element of a zipper type fastener having opposed stringers of interen-gageable teeth and which slider element is conventionally provided with a pivoted pull tab having an apertured free end, in combination, a one piece main body member having relatively offset, substantially parallel oppositely extending parts respectively adapted for disposition outside and inside of the plane of said zipper stringers, one of said parts serving as an extension of said pull tab and the other of said parts extending directly beneath and serving as a protective shield for the underside of said slider element during movement thereof in zipper-closing direction, and a spring-pressed element pivotally mounted upon said pull-tab extension part and ooacting therewith to provide a quick-detachable clip for connecting the pull device to said pull tab.

5. In a zipper pull device as defined in claim 4 wherein said spring-pressed clip element is provided with a hooked end adapted to project through the pull tab aperture to oper-atively hold the pull tab flatwise against the outer surface of said pull-tab extension part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain June 18, 1958 

